Marine Glossary

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fracture

A break or rupture through very close pack ice, compact pack ice, consolidated pack ice, fast ice, or a single floe resulting from deformation processes, fractures may contain brash ice and/or be covered with nilas and/or young ice. The length of a fracture may vary from a few meters to many nautical miles. A large fracture is more than 500 meters wide; a medium fracture is 200 to 500 meters wide; a small fracture is 50 to 200 meters wide; and a very small fracture is 0 to 50 meters wide.